.......culled from a book: Days of Terror 

   ......By Chris N.D.Anyanwu. 

@ katsina times.

I got a very pleasant surprise from the most unlikely source: El. Zaki Zaki. This Moslem cleric whose name induced fear in Northern Nigeria proved one thing: that we all are at times victims of our own reputation. I was not in a position to judge whether or not he was everything that he was feared to be: fiery, mystical, powerful. I could not also say that he was not the 'dangerous man' that government labelled him. But I can say that he was also human, and above all, a fine man. El Zaki Zaki adorned his environment with colourful flowers, which lifted the depressing atmosphere.

He painted his cell, repaired the yard and made the whole place presentable. From across the high fence, we never heard his voice, but we smelled him. We smelled when he emerged from his cage-like punishment cell much like the one I occupied at first. His expensive Arabian perfume wafted in the air and trailed him as he went under the shade, conquering the overwhelming odour of the open sewer. At times like this, the women opened their noses and inhaled deeply. And for one fleeting moment, I remembered there was something called social graces.

I had never seen or spoken to El Zaki Zaki, but i had once sent a reporter to his base in Zaria to interview him. The main idea was to find our if and why he was asking his followers to go out and kill in the name of God. El Zaki Zaki had surprised us then. Thought he had extremist views, he was not so irrational; he was not the poison-arrow carrying Ayatollah that we expected; but an intelligent middle-aged, well-educated man, he had a degree in Economics from ABU, Zaria, arguing like an intellectual.

We never crossed paths in the prison, but I was sure he might have often heard me singing under the mango tree right next to the wall. When El Zaki Zaki heard of UNESCO's Guerllermo award to me, he had a prisoner design a card complete with envelope. The artwork was painstaking in its detail. Inscribed inside was this message.

There's no stopping you,

Keep the flag flying,  

Cross more hurdles and win more honours 

That's the mark of a successful life. 

A successful life inspires other 

Congratulations!

In a condition where writing was officially outlawed, he took the trouble to sing the date his card. I loved his message, but I loved his boldness and his spirit more. A total stranger taking vicarious pleasure in another person's honour is a rare thing to find. El Zaki Zaki surprised me by his humanity.

Note.chris N.D.Anyanwu was a publisher and editor in chief  of TSM Magazine.was arrested in 1996 on allegations of coup plotting, was sentenced and live in different prisons including kaduna prison where she met with El Zaki zaki.chris was released in 1998, she was a  Commissioner in Imo state, a sanator and director at spectrum books limited.

Her book Days of terror was published in 2002.